Gossip Girl Promo Song: “Southern Sky” by John Reynolds (Interview)

Early December on Gossip Girl, the CW showed a preview of a future GG episode set to a beautifully haunting clip of a song that captured the attention of Gossip Girl fans everywhere. Viewers frantically searched the Internet to find out the title and artist of the song. We did some research and found out that the clip is “Southern Sky” by John Reynolds, but we wanted to know more. Much to our surprise, John Reynolds found us on the Internet and posted a friendly comment on our “Southern Sky” post. This week, we got the chance to ask him a few questions in order to get to know him better. Please check out our Q & A session below and listen to the lovely clip that intrigued so many music lovers!

LYRICS

There’s a white moon hanging in the Southern sky

A new sun rising in the East

And the bird on my window sings the same sad song

But the West wind sings for me.

John Reynolds: First, will you please thank everyone for the many heartfelt remarks about this little song.

Noize: Yes, certainly! How was your song clip selected to be on the promo clip for Gossip Girl?

John Reynolds: It is a portion of an acapella song of mine called “White Moon” that was shopped to TV and Gossip Girl picked it up.

Noize: What is the song “Southern Sky” about?

John Reynolds: I wrote “White Moon” (original name) in Boston right before a live broadcast on Harvard’s radio station. I was thinking about how being completely free is sometimes a very lonely place. Then I saw a young bird sitting in the open window singing. A lonely song, a beautiful bird and a tough world were all there in front of me. I got a scrap of paper, scratched down some words, walked into the station and sang. This little song is what came out. You could say it is an homage to that little bird. Whenever someone says they cant find anything to write about or have writers block I tell them to take a walk outside. There are a lifetimes worth of songs peeking out from behind every corner.

Noize: Will you be releasing a full version soon?

John Reynolds: Thank you for asking. I will be releasing the full version under its original name “White Moon” on iTunes and on our facebook store. It will include the full chorus, which I really like, and has never been released to the public.

Noize: What are your plans for 2012?

John Reynolds: 2012 is looking to be a big wild. Just the way I like it. I will be putting out twelve 6 song EP’s this year and 3 full-length records. I have just finished a musical with my mentor Even Stevens. He was recently named one of BMI’s songwriters of the century.

Noize: Nice! Can you tell us more about your background?

John Reynolds: I am a singer songwriter who is lucky enough to write and record every day. One person called me an “enemy of cliché”. I like that description because I have always looked at the world from an odd angle, more interested in the grey area than the black and white. I believe the most an artist can expect to do, is grab a few shreds of truth from the whirlwind, hold it up to the light for others to see, and hope that those looking can find a bit of themselves reflected in the image.

Noize: Who are your influences?

John Reynolds: I write in every style except classical and am consumed by literature, art, and music from all over the world. Those are my influences. You could say I am an anti-purest because I am open to all and any. I don’t care what artist, what language or what style, I only care that their work moves me.

Noize: Which musicians do you find relevent or interesting in today’s music world?

John Reynolds: My taste ranges from Joss Stone, Burno Mars and Rufus Wainwright to Super Furry Animals, Sigur Ros and The Horrors. As Cole Porter said, “anything goes”. Alexis, it takes a big vocabulary to describe this tiny planet. So I am constantly feeding my brain. Mine is the brain of a fool, or court jester to be exact. My job is to sing the people’s story and hope the King doesn’t chop off my head. Cheers, J.

John Reynolds’ here. I’m not the John Reynolds from Birds of Prey. I’m thrilled you like this song. I am planning to upload the full version of this song very soon. You can visit my FB site at Hoorey!Records. Links are there to all of my music online to date. Enjoy!

[…] When Reynolds became aware of the online demand for his music, he contacted one of the more prominent and vocal bloggers who began the campaign to discover who sang “White Moon (Southern Sky).” Check out his interview on Noize. […]